Posthole digger



L. L. NAVARRE POSTHOLE DIGGER May 27, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Oct.31, 1949 Louis L. Navarre INVENTOR.

L. L. NAVARRE POSTHOLE 'DIGGER -May 27, 1952 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Oct.31, 1949 Louis L. Navarre INVENTOR. 405a... BY w eon Fwy 3M Patented May27, 1952 UNITE D- STATES? PATE T" o FFl C-E- POSTHOLE BIGGER.

Louis L. Navarre, Shreveport, 12a.

ApplicationzQctober 31, 1949; Serial'-No'. 124;5.44;

3 Claims; 1.

This invention relates to new" and. useful improvements. and structural,refinements; in post...

the hole digging operation. by facilitatingrcona venient removal ofaccumulated mud,, soil, et

cetera, from the. ground engaging. tools of the digger.

This object is achieved; by theprovision ofaan.

earth and mudscraper.v between the to.o1s'..of the digger, together withmeansjor reciprocating the.

scraper between the tools insuch manner. that.

accumulated'earth, mud,fet cetera, may be conveniently andexpeditiously. removed;

Some of the advantages of the invention. re: side in its simplicity ofconstructiomin itsconvenient operation as aforesaid,.andjinitsadaptability for use on post hole diggers OfQdiiTerent sizesand types.

With the above more important objects and features in view and suchother objects and features as may become apparent as this, specificationproceeds, the invention consists essentially, of the arrangement andconstruction of'parts. as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of-a post hole digger having theinvention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is another elevational view, taken in the direction of thearrow 2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view; taken substantially in the plane ofthe .line. 33 in Figure.2.;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional detail, taken. substantially in the planeof the liner4=-4 in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional viewsonan enlarged scale, this viewbeing taken substantially in the plane of the line 5 5'in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a perspective view ofa latch used in the invention;

Figure '7 is a perspective view of a latch bracket used therein, and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a stop member used in connection withthe bracket illustrated in Figure 7.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in thespecification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention isembodied in a post hole digger designated generally by the referencecharacter It], this being of a conventional construction and including apair of substantially upright handles 12, I4 disposed in spacedrelation, the lower ends of the handles having secured thereto suitablemembers l6, l8, respectively.

zen-50.8).

These members, being; inlthe: nature of clamps,

areimounteclrupon the lower portions of thehan dlesi'by afpluralityyof'bolts or screws 20;.anqzl it;

togetherbyyar-transverse'boltaor-pin 26, as is best shown inzE-igure- 4;

Suitable 1' ground engaging tools-28: are riveted as at; 30to' themembers. I6, 18-, and itistoebe' observed that by virtueof the pivot26', thextools 28 may be swung together and apart by'the manipulation.of the handles l2, l4 in the. conventional manner.

The essence. of novelty in-the invention-resides in the provision ofmeans for expeditiously removing; accumulated earth, mud, et cetera;,from

the tools 28, these means involving the provision of a verticallyelongatedguide. 32 which is: securedadjacent the lower endthereofbetween theearszz ofthe-member wand. slidablyaccommodatesnan uprightplunger 34.

To. prevent relative rotation thereof, the guide 32; and, plunger. 34varepreferably polygonal in cross; section, anditis. to benotedthatanearth scraping. plate 3 6, provided. with .3 aisocketl 38 .is-a

securediby. a transverse pinv 40 to-the. lower. end.

portion of the plunger 34, as is best illustrated in Figure 3.

- Thislplate is reciprocable .between theftools 28, whereby accumulatedmud; soil, et cetera,,may be. expeditiously scrapedfrom. the. tools .by.simply sliding the ,plunger 34 downwardly in amanner hereinafter to be.described. Itis to be, noted. that the. plater36 is .of such.configuration (see. Figure 4) to permit .thetwo tools. 28.to. beswung:toward andaway fromreach other when the.

handles I 2;. I 4 areimanipulatedi The sliding of'the plunger 341seifected by means of a foot pedal 42 which is secured to the upper endof the plunger, while a suitable compression spring 44 is positioned onthe plunger and on the upper portion of the guide 32, one end of thespring bearing against the foot pedal 42 while the remaining end of thespring bears against the ears 22, whereby the scraper plate 36 isnormally urged upwardly, that is, to its inoperative position, as shownin Figure 3. However, by simply stepping upon the foot pedal 42 anddepressing the same, the plunger 34 together with the plate 36 may beslid downwardly as indicated by the phantom lines in Figure 2, thuseffecting the tool scraping operation.

Means are provided for locking the plate 36 and the plunger 34 in anupwardly slid position,

these means consisting of a latch member 48- 3 which is configurated asis best shown in Figure 6 and includes a pair of spaced ears 50 wherebyit may be pivotally mounted by means of a pin 52 at the upper end of theplunger 34 or on the upper portion of the foot pedal 42, as desired. Thelatch member 48 is formed integrally with a projecting tongue 54 which,in turn, is provided with a cam-surfaced detent unit 56, the latterbeing separably engageable with a transverse bar member or element 58.This element or member assumes the form of a clamp fabricated integrallyfrom a strap as is best shown in Figure 7, the entire member beingsecured to the handle l2 by a screw 60 and afiording at its free end asubstantially flat portion 62 which is adapted to abut a coactingbracket or stop 66 mounted on the handle 14.

The two brackets 58, 66 are adapted to abut each other so as to limitthe extent to which the handles I2, 14 may be brought together, but atthe same time, the bracket 58 afiords a member with which the detentunit 56 may be engaged so as to releasably retain the plunger 34 and thescraper 36 in an upwardly slid position.

It is to be noted that the arrangement of the latch member 48 and of thefoot pedal 42 is such that when a foot is applied to the latter, thelatch member48 is automatically depressed so as to disengage the detentunit 56 from the bracket 58, thus facilitating downward sliding of thefoot pedal.

' Finally, a suitable spring 68 is provided on the pivot 52 inengagement with the tongue 54 of the latch member 48, whereby the detentunit 56 is automatically engaged with the bracket 58 when the plunger 34is slid upwardly by the action of spring 44.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will beclearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure, and accordingly, furtherdescription thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described ,thepreferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is: V

1. In a post hole digger, the combination of a pair of spaced juxtaposedand substantially upright handles, pivotally connected members providedat the lower ends of said handles whereby the latter are movable towardand away from each other, coasting ground engaging tools mounted on anddepending from said handles, a

stationary guide secured to one of said members. a plunger slidablevertically in said guide, an earth scraping plate mounted on the lowerend of said plunger and reciprocable in the space between said tools, afoot pedal provided at the upper end of the plunger for pressing thelatter downwardly, resilient means for sliding the plunger upwardly, andmeans for locking said plunger in its upwardly slid position, whereinsaid last mentioned means include a laterally projecting elementprovided on one of said handles, and a spring pressed latch pivotallymounted at the upper end of said plunger, said latch being engageablewith said element when the plunger is slid upwardly by said resilientmeans.

2. A post hole digger comprising a pair of pivotally connected handles,coacting blades on one end portion of said handles, a rod slidablebetween the handles, a scraping plate on one end of the rod operablebetween the blades, 2. split band mounted on one of the handles, a pairof opposed, parallel bars integral with the ends of the split band andprojecting therefrom toward the other handle, a resilient bumperintegral with the free end of one of said bars and engageable with saidother handle, and a latch on the rod engageable with said one bar forreleasably securing the scraper in inoperative position.

3. A post hole digger comprising a pair of pivotally connected handles,coacting blades on one end portion of said handles, a scraper comprisinga rod slidably mounted between the handles and further comprising aplate on one end of the rod operable between the blades, a foot pedalmounted on the rod, a bar mounted on one of the handles, a spring-loadedlatch pivotally mounted on the rod and engageable with the bar forreleasably securing the scraper in inoperative position, said latchincluding an operating handle engageable on the foot lever when saidlatch is swung to inoperative position, and a coil spring encircling therod and operatively connected thereto for'returning the scraper toinoperative position.

LOUIS L. NAVARRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file ofthis patent: I

UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith May 8, 1917

